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HQBBRDAN. AMMUNITION FOR SUBMARINB GUNS. No. 478,216. Patented July 5,1892.

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H. BERDAN. AMMUNITION PoR SUBMARINE GUNS. No. 478,216. Patented July 5,1892,

Witnesses.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HIRAM BERDAN, OF VVASIIINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

AMMuNrrloN FoR's'UBMARlNE guns.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,216, dated July 5,1892. Application filed March 22, 1892. Serial No. 425,988. (Noinodel.)

To all whom t may concern: 1

Be it known that I, HIRAM BERDAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washingto'n, in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Ammunition for .Submarine Guns;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of the invention is to` provide better ammunition forasubmarine gun than heretofore known for the purpose of iirin g a shellinto the held of a ship. v

The nature of the invention consists in the improved shell,air-cylinders, time-fuse, and propelling-charge case employed, whereby aprojectile or shell containing high explosive can be fired into the holdof a ship with greater certainty and with less injury to the gunthanwith any ammunition heretofore employed in submarine guns for thatpurpose. I have illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figurel represents a longitudinal section of the bow of thevessel I employ and the submarine gun therein loaded, with air-cylindersand tampion, with what I designate as my hydraulic buffer in positionagainst an iron-clad ship. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectionalview of the. lower part of the vessel and the submarine gun, showing thegun drawn back preparatory to loading. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig.2, but showing the gun loaded and in position to be moved forward. Fig.4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the shell, also showing in de-ltail the 4improved detachable ring charge, the time-fuse, its spindle,and sleeve, and showing immediately underneath the large figure anenlarged sectional view of the timefuse spindle, displaying the sectionsof the leaden coil containing` the time-fuse compo-l sition. Fig. 5shows a section of the shell at a: disclosing the corrugations. Fig. 5,is a similar view of the shell at y fy. Fig. 5b is a similar view ofthe shell at z .z. Fig. 6 is an as hereinbefore described. 5 representsthe enlarged detail view of the formvof air-cylinder employed, and Fig.7 is a similar view of the tampion employed.

The position of the gun when loaded and 55 ready for firing, with theair-cylinders in place, is shown in Fig. l. When drawn back ready forloading, the gun is in the position as shown in Fig. 2, and when loadedready for Bring its position is as shown in Fig; 3.

For the purpose of clearly explaining the construction 'and operation ofmy improved ammunition I submit herewith the detail drawings, Figs. 4,5a, 5, 5", 6, and 7. v

Fig. 4 shows in detail the time-fuse coiled around its spindle,(designated by the figure 7,) which spindle is constructed with squarethreads for the reception of said fuse. One end of the fuse (designatedas 3) projects into the space at the end of the spindle 7, the coveringto which space and the corresponding plate in the powder charge are ofsuch material and of such strength as to allow the gas from the powdercharge to readily penetrate t0 and ignite the time-fuse. The propellingcharge of powder is in a water-tight metal case shoved onto the sleeve8, which contains the time-fuse. 4 represents the forward end of thefuse, which passes through the plug 6, which is'screwed into the fuse'-spindle and supports the dry gun-cotton tube in the shell (designated as12) and Athe small tube 13 forthe fulminate of mercury, which is ignitedby the end of the fuse 4. 1 represents the fulminate of mercury in thepropelling-charge case, which is ignited by the electric Wire 2 and setstire to the gunpowder. l The gas from the ygun powder then penetratesthe plate 9 and ignites the time-fuse,

dry gun-cotton iu'the tube, which ignites the wet gun-cotton 1 in theshell. 8- represents 'the sleeve containing` the time-fuse spindle, &c.'H represents the shell. 10 represents the oetagonal flange to thefuse-spindle for convenience in wrenching it into the sleeve 8, and 11represents the octagonal iiange of the said sleeve 8 for convenience inscrewing the same into th shell. The timefuse is, as shown in detai Fig.4, (in which me the figure 3 is made to represent the fuse generally,)in'cased in a leadentube, and is here represented to be fifty 'feetlong. The fuse composition burns at the rate of on ehalf inch persecond, thus giving a burning time of twenty minutes, which isconsidered amply suliicient for the officers and crew, with theirelects, to escape without injury. Any time desired can be obtained,however, by dfferentlengths of fuse, as shown by 'ex perience andpractice to be most necessary and desirable.'

The tampion F,is employed Lokeep the water out of the gun, and theair-cylindersf are sometimes employed with the shell when soconstructedI as to allow the gas to pass the shell; but they areinvariably employed when the shell lits the bore of the gun, assometimes constructed for the purpose of increasing the 'capacity of theshell, so as to prevent the air when compressed by the projectile fromexi pending the muzzle of the gun. The construetion of the tampion -andair-cylinders is as shown in detail in Figs. 7 and 6, respectively. Theshell H is here shown with passages extending forward of the cylindricalpart of the shell with corresponding internal corruga-v tions -for thepurpose of increasing the capac" ity of. the shell for gun-cotton andlessening the weight'of the same, this being one of the various formswhich I may employ without departing from the scope of myinventioma'sshown by cross sections Figs. 5f?, 5, and 5", to give therequired strength' to the shell at that point with as little metal aspossible and allow a portion of the gas to pass'theproject-l ile for thepurpose of forcing the tampion out of the gun; also, for the purpose ofallowing the compressed air to pass back and around the shell when thepressure of the air and gas forward of the shell is greater per squareinch l than the pressure of the gas behind the shell, thereby lesseningthe liability of expanding the muzzle ofthe gun when .the air-cylindersare not employed, lfor the' reason that the pressure of the air and gasis always 'free to equalize itself.. The point of the shell is made ofhardened steel and is dished out, so as to .enter a `plate at a veryfiat an'gle.

Thel advantage of the propelling charge of powder being detached ispartly for the conveuience of handling the projectile to avoid damagingthe powder charge while placing this heavy shell into the gun; but themore important object is that of being able' to readily changethe sizeof the propelling charge as required by the kind of ship to be attacked,as some of the ships are more deli cately constructed than others, andwithout having a charge regulated somewhat in proportion to theresistance the ship would lolfer a charge regulated to the strongershipwould throw the-projectile or shell entirely through aweakly-constructed ship, such as an ordinary cruiser or merchant-ship.There would probably be required three sizes, designated as a minimum,maximum, and normal, andas the gun .employed is a breechloading guna few seconds would be sullicient r'to open the breech and change thepropelling charge. Each propelling charge will have its electric wire`attached to it., so as to be tired strikes the ship. rlfhe normal chargeof powder employed is two hundred pounds. The weight of the projectilewhen loaded is live thousand pounds, and the weight of theobstructions'including hydrostatic pressure, air-cylinders, and tampion,is .Seven thousand pounds. The muzzle Velocity of the shell, with thedetailsasabove, is three hundred and forty feet per second, which issuiicient to penetrate aplate of three inches thickness, which issupposed to represent the two plates employed in iron-clads ofthree-fourths-in'ches thickness each, making one and one-half inches,and an allowance of one and one-.halt` inches for the frame-work, &c.,making a total of three inches. The weight of the gun will be abouttwenty-two tons.-

The proportions of the shell 'as shown in the drawings will admit ofabout four hundred pounds of wet gun-cotton being employed; `but-it,will be seen that any. amount may be employed that is thoughtnecessary, and it is evident that with the time-fuse constructed on thissystem the shell cannot expldie until the vessel has had ample time toget out of the way of the ship; in fact, almost anylength ot time couldbe obtained witha fuse con-v structed on this system, and as far as anysuggestion of the shell being removed from the attacked vessel duringthe timeconsumcd by the burning of the fuse is concerned theimpossibility of such a procedure will be seen when it is borne in mindthat the shell is'iive thousand pounds in weight, and being buried intothe hold of the ship would be difficult to get at. Y 4

It is proper to state here that I regard the bursting of the shellinside the ship an indispensable feature for destroying ironclads orships of war when made on the honeycomb -or compartment system, which isalmost universal now, with all first-class iron-clads 'or ships of War.i

It will be seen that, according to my systeni, the projectile has ashort and uniform distance to pass through the water; also, that the gaspresses against the rear end of 4the shell in thegun until the point ofthe jeetile hasv reached the side of the ship in place of throwing theprojectile through the water by its momentum, as heretofore.

By this description and the iiguresof the drawings my invention will befully explained.-

' I have shown my shell in combination with a vessel of specialconstruction, but hereby disclaim such construction, as it is thesubject-matter of another pending application, Serial No. 425,987, filedMarch 22, 1892. In lthis ease I limit myself to the construction of theshell and certain parts identified and co- 5, 5b, 6, and 7.

by electricity automatically when the vessel' operative therewith, asshown in Figs. 4, 5,

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Having lthus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a shell, 'substantially as described, withair-cylinders infront thereof, all in operative relation, substantiallyas and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. A shell, substantially as described, having a timefuse attached toits rear end, a spindle around which the time-fuse is coiled, and asleeve for protecting the fuse, substantially as and for the purposeherein set forth.

3. A shell, substantially as described, having a metal case attachedtoits rear part carryiug the propelling charge and a ti ine-fuse, all inoperative relation, substantially as set forth.

4. A shell, substantially as described, having a fuse-- spindle andsleeve, the fuse encircling said spindle, and a metal case for carryingthe propelling charge surrounding said sleeve, said parts being attachedto the rear o f the shell, and all in operative relation therewith andwith each other, asset forth.

- 5. A shell, substantially as described, 'hav- 25 ing a fuse-spindle,the fuse encircling said ternally thereof, whereby the gas freely passes4o I the shell, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HIRAM BERDAN.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH H. HANNEN,A T. C. BRECHT.

